Apelle che ritrae Pancaspe

Particularly successful is the Greek profile of Pancaspe, made even more regal by the rich clothes and precious ornaments. The episode, derived from Pliny’s Naturalis Historia, tells of the task that Alessandro Magno assigned to Apelle to portray Pancaspe, his favorite concubine; the artist, in creating the portrait, fell in love with the young woman who, with great magnanimity, was given to him as a gift by Alessandro. With the identification of Sebastiano Ricci in the most famous painter of ancient Greece Apelles, who is portrayed in the painting while reproducing the concubine Pancaspe, the artist attempts to represent his idea of ​​artistic work, made of instinct and passion towards the beloved subject, as well as of authority and watchful control by a client. The subject is a classic of painting from the 16th to the 18th century with which painters of the fame of Velázquez, Baldrighi, Goya and others measured themselves.